I haven't spent too much time exploring the changes and the new channels on the re-christened "Sirius XM Radio". Too busy amassing a comprehensive artist library at my new favorite music site, LastFM. But I have spent considerable time with one station in particular: Grateful Dead Radio.

If any rock band deserves their own channel, it's the Grateful Dead. Much more so than the other "artist channels" currently in the line-up (AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Elvis Presley & Bruce Springsteen). Don't get me wrong...I like Springsteen, probably a lot more than I do the Dead. But, though he does have variety to his music, it's never been as all-encompassing as was the Grateful Dead's.

I can listen to a couple hours of Presley, Zep, the Boss...even 30 minutes of AC/DC...but I can turn on Grateful Dead and leave it on all day long, like fine ambient music it works despite how much attention is paid to it. It's not demanding, in that it doesn't expect you to sit up and take notice of what's going on musically. But if you do, and you happen to get caught up in a space jam, you will get lost in the sonic tapestry.

Springsteen's the better songwriter. Zeppelin and AC/DC rock infinitley harder than the Dead ever wanted to. And hey, Elvis is the King, the originator. Still, the Grateful Dead have them all trumped when it comes to the musical equivalent of spontaneous combustion.

The Zeppelin and AC/DC catalogs (studio, live and bootlegs), in comparison to what's available by the Dead, are very, very small. You could probably encircle the globe two or three times with all the tape Grateful Dead fans have recorded over the years at concerts. Since no two Dead concerts were ever alike you can, by now, see just how logical their Sirius XM channel is.

Obviously I like the Grateful Dead. Those who don't care for them in the first place are gonna think the station is a joke. I can see how non-fans might think it's a waste of good satellite frequency that could be used for something that would appeal to more than just the Dead Heads in the XM Nation. They may have a few points to make, but you never know when a taste for Captain Trips and his crew will creep up on you. I used to hate 'em, too. If you're lucky you might discover their charms while the Grateful Dead Channel is still on the air. You'll be like a pirate finding a treasure chest.

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